I agreed with the energy saving strategies, but not the "hu-manure." Can you say pathogens?

07-14-2005, 11:17 PM

Jamie5632

I can say I about fell off the couch when Vito/Meato completely cracked and started having the puppet shows. His Jahari impersonation was too much and I love how he ripped on himself and the meat. "so what you don't have product, I don't have any meat!!" :confused

Not one of my favorites of 30 Days, but those puppets had a run of four or five TiVo re-dos before it was over! Not sure what I didn't like about this one other than Jahari in the beginning (she grew on me a bit, but man in the first twenty minutes she was driving me crazy...I think her having electricity again toned down the freakouts!), it just didn't grab me like the other ones. Maybe it was because the San Fran one was so so good I had a higher expectation. Still, a good overall episode and as always, learned a ton.

07-15-2005, 10:02 AM

Harvest

I just watched Super Size Me again (it is on The Movie Channel in letterbox this month), and Spurlock did some funny bits with puppets in the movie, too. Seriously, everyone, if you haven't seen this movie yet, check it out!

The TV show, like the movie, does not dig very deep into the science of things, so you become aware of an issue but hopefully it will spur you to learn even more about it. For instance, in the movie they kept blaming a "high-fat diet" to keep it focused without going into the issues of food additives, sugar, etc. (The scene at the end where it showed the pile of 30 lbs. of sugar to illustrate how he had consumed a pound a day on average literally made me cry.)

In this episode, a couple of the questions I would have had for the commune are: "Soysages" -- are they aware almost all soy products come from genetically modified soy beans? GMOs are a topic for a whole other show!

"Hu-manure" -- it is virtually impossible to compost it to a safe level in a home environment. Human waste can be loaded with extremely dangerous pathogens, which is why American travelers are told not to eat raw veggies in countries that fertilize with it. Do these folks have a health plan? Are they willing to compromise their long-term health and potentially dramatically shorten their life spans for the sake of their ideals? I know an old lady whose husband died at age 59 of gut cancer. Many urban neighborhoods before WWII shared a communal outhouse, as did his in Chicago. Public health improved dramatically in the modern era after the advent of the one-piece porcelain flush toilet. They have a biological filter for gray water at their commune. They could design one that is capable of processing flushed waste where particular plants in a wetland area filter the water to the point it is purer than what comes out the average municipal tap. Do they know any of this? I would have asked. But like I said, I realize he has to focus his shows.

Solar, veggie fuel, lightbulbs, cows -- they did a good job in the episode of highlighting the energy issue. I loved the factoids like the energy from one minute of sunlight could fuel the whole planet for a year! Made me mad at the way the governments toady to the corporations instead of focusing on sustainable energy plans. Even their latest plans to subsidize big companies in alternate energy again ignore the citizens. They should be upping rebates to individuals for putting in solar, etc. Those rebates have dwindled to nothing over the past 5 years with the idea that prices would drop, which, hello, they haven't!!! Don't they know all companies work for maximum profit?

No rebates available for solar water now, and practically nothing for solar energy panels, plus they phased out tax breaks years ago. They also phased out tax breaks on hybrid cars. Oh, and loved the classic Spurlock moment where he drank hydrogen car water. Eww! Good TV!

07-15-2005, 01:35 PM

Maveno

I'm a big meat eater too, just like Meato. :lol BUT, I wouldn't have a 'breakdown' and grab the gun and kill the very thing the commune was named after. I thought that was very insensitive, rude and down-right mean to all of the people who live there.

07-15-2005, 11:46 PM

Harvest

That was hilarious, when she started calling him Meato and even made up that little song and dance :lol

I had this idea of trying to post on the FX site so maybe Morgan Spurlock would find out about the FORT site and read all of our comments. But I could not get their message section to work! And I could not find an official web site for Spurlock. The Super Size Me site is a blank black page.

07-19-2005, 07:46 PM

barefootdyke

i'm just now watching this episode (thank goodness for re-runs and dvr!) ... and one thing that irritates me about that blonde woman at the beginning ... the one who was supposed to calculate how much they were wasting? she picks up the bag that veggies were in and she said it will last about 100,000 years in a landfill. um ... first of all, how the heck can anyone even know that? besides, most bags are made of recycled and/or recyclable materials ...

yeah, while i don't waste anywhere near as much as that couple did, i would never make it on that commune ... i enjoy the comforts of home. :)